


This is a Break Out

by dcrthkenobi (galakticfinn)



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, M/M, Pre-Rogue One
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-13 19:03:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9137314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galakticfinn/pseuds/dcrthkenobi
Summary: Cassian followed the pilot out of the holding cell and stared in shock at the sight he met outside of the cell. The Stormtrooper and Imperial officer were both unconscious. The pilot walked over to Cassian and freed his hands from the cuffs.AU where Bodhi also piloted Imperial prisoner transports.Note: any similarities and paralles with stormpilot is completely intentional.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my friend rookandor on tumblr. Also kind of fulfilling a prompt I got from an anon "how did they find and reprogram k2- (?? the droid?? I forgot past k2)"
> 
> Also, this takes place... lets go with a few years before the events of Rogue One

Cassian sucked on his lip and grimaced in pain. It had taken a lot to subdue him -  not that he would have it any other way. If he were going to get captured by the kriffing _Empire,_ he wasn’t going to make it easy for them. He would have preferred _not_ to be arrested, but you take what you get – he’d managed to take down a good amount Stormtroopers before those bucketheads had beat him to the ground.

Cassian spat a glob of blood onto the pristine armor of the Stormtrooper commander that was standing by the transport shuttle. He grunted in pain and fell to his knees when the ‘trooper behind him hit him with a blaster rifle.

_Worth it._

A pair of hands grabbed him beneath the arms and hauled him to his feet, giving him a shove toward the prisoner transport shuttle. “ _Move it._ ”

Cassian raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw that the prisoner transport was empty. The only ones in the shuttle were Stormtroopers – more than the standard five on a prisoner transport. It made Cassian feel oddly special, like they considered him enough of a threat to get him his own personal guard and shuttle. It also told Cassian that they had been expecting to capture him – they knew he was going to be on the planet and they specifically targeted him.

“Keep the Rebel Scum in the front where we can watch him.” The commander ordered as he followed Cassian onto the transport.

Cassian rolled his eyes as they chained him to the seat. He liked to think he was good at a fight, but he wasn’t _that_ good. He wouldn’t be able to anything while he was chained so close to the seat that he couldn’t even move. But still, he felt smug knowing that they thought of him as such a huge threat.

Cassian breathed in sharply – earning himself another smack from a blaster rifle ( _completely_ unnecessary) – when the pilot came out from the front. _Kriffing hell._ He was attractive. Shame that he was an Imperial Pilot.

The pilot’s eyes slid over Cassian, taking in his bruised and bloodied face. Despite his probably ragged appearance, Cassian could have sworn he’d seen a glimmer of appreciation (and a spark of anger and concern?) in the pilot’s eyes before the man turned his attention to the Stormtrooper commander.

“Ready for departure, Sir.”

“Rendezvous with the main fleet.” The commander ordered.

“The main – “ The pilot’s flicked back to Cassian and his eyes widened as he realized that Cassian was more than your average criminal – and quite important if he was being taken to the main fleet. “Yes, sir, right away.”

The pilot tuned and went back into the cockpit. Cassian could hear him pressing buttons and flipping switches. Cassian pulled at the cuffs locked around his ankles and glared up at the Stormtrooper commander.

“Kriff you, _Buckethead_.”

Cassian grunted in pain again when he was smacked around the head again. _Worth it._

**

Cassian felt his bravado wither and crumble the moment that he stepped off the transport and into the hangar bay of the Star Destroyer. He’d never been captured by the Empire until now – _what a stain on his record! –_ so he’d never had to go through an interrogation. He wasn’t afraid of the pain, or the possibility of death, he was afraid that he might not be as strong as he thought himself to be.

What if he broke? What if he broke and gave away Rebellion secrets? He knew things that could destroy the Alliance if the Empire ever found out. That’s what he was really afraid of, accidentally betraying the Rebel Alliance. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he gave up secrets – even if it wouldn’t technically be his fault. It would destroy him.

Cassian paid careful attention to path they took from the hangar bay to the detention area. Just in case, you never know when an opportunity would present itself and Cassian – despite what people thought – was an optimist, you have to be when you’re in a Rebellion. Rebellions are built on hope, there’s no room for a pessimistic attitude in a Rebellion.

When they got detention area, Cassian was a little surprised to find that there weren’t many guards on duty. Just an officer and another Stormtrooper. Then again, it really wasn’t _that_ surprising. Where was a prisoner going to go when they were in the middle of an Imperial Star Destroyer surrounded by hundreds of Stormtroopers?

Cassian cursed when he fell to his knees after he was shoved unceremoniously into a cell. The door slammed shut behind him with a loud _whoosh_ and locked. He struggled back to his feet and glanced back at the door. His hands were still cuffed and he could feel the metal chaffing his wrists raw. His body ached and it felt like his head was a about to split open from the amount of blows it received.

_Fan-kriffing-tastic_. He wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

He leaned against the wall facing the cell door, he refused to sit on the floor. Not that that would help anything, but despite the aches in his body, he wanted to show that he had strength – that he wouldn’t be bullied and intimidated by the Empire.

**

Cassian tensed when the cell door opened again. He expected Stormtroopers and an interrogation droid – maybe even a high-ranking officer. What he didn’t expect was –

“You’re the pilot? The one from the transport.”

The pilot nodded. “Uh, yeah. I – I’m the Pilot.” The pilot licked his lips then pointed over his own shoulder. “Uh, let’s – let’s go.”

“What –“

Cassian followed the pilot out of the holding cell and stared in shock at the sight he met outside of the cell. The Stormtrooper and Imperial officer were both unconscious. The pilot walked over to Cassian and freed his hands from the cuffs.

“Put on the Stormtrooper armor.” He instructed, pointing at the unconscious ‘trooper, before going over to the officer and starting to drag him toward the cell.

“What’s going on?”

The pilot paused in what he was doing and looked over at Cassian. “I would have thought that was obvious. This is a breakout.”

Cassian frowned and started removing the armor from the ‘trooper and putting it on himself. “Why? I mean, clearly you don’t need a pilot to escape – and you’re probably better than me anyway.”

The pilot shrugged and shoved the Stormtrooper into the cell, locking the door. “It’s the right thing to do. Now let’s go. I’m scheduled to depart with a cargo shipment in fifteen minutes.”

Cassian looked at the pilot incredulously. “A _cargo_ shuttle. Why not steal a TIE? They’re faster and –“

“And they don’t have deflector shields.” The pilot interrupted Cassian with mild annoyance – it was obvious that he _really_ wanted to get going. “We wouldn’t get a meter away from this Star Destroyer if we stole a TIE fighter. But I have clearance to leave in my cargo shuttle and cargo shuttle _do_ have deflector shields – wouldn’t want to lose a shipment, would we?  I think my plan sounds better. Now let’s _go!_ ”

Cassian snapped his mouth shut and pulled the Stormtrooper helmet over his head, following the pilot out of the cell block. Cassian would be lying if he said that this pilot wasn’t the _hottest_ person he’d ever met. There were very few people that Cassian would have allowed to blatantly take charge from him like that, but this cargo pilot managed to become one of them.

_“Walk like a Stormtrooper!”_ the pilot hissed.

Cassian straightened and held the blaster rifle across his front the way he’d seen so many Stormtroopers do over the years. He expected to be stopped a dozen times as he followed the Imperial Pilot away from the detention area and to the hangar bay, but they were never stopped. The pilot walked with confidence in front of Cassian.

The pilot walked up the ramp of a cargo shuttle. He walked into the cockpit and started flipping switches. “Bay control.” The pilot said once the ramp had closed. “this is cargo shuttle SW-4153 requesting clearance for departure.”

“What’s your clearance code, shuttle SW-4153.”

“Transmitting now, bay control.” The pilot nodded at the security droid in the cockpit with him.

“Departure authorized.”

The pilot breathed out a sigh of relief and took off, punching in the calculations and jumping to lightspeed. When he was done, he leaned over and flipped the switch on the KX-series security droid.

“We’ll be arriving at Jedha in a few hours.” The pilot said. “I need you to –“

“Jedha?” Cassian interrupted. “Why? We could go to the Alliance base. They’d welcome you.”

The pilot shook his head. “I can’t. I can’t defect from the Empire. It’s the _Empire_. If I defected they’d kill my family.” For the first time since meeting the pilot, Cassian saw his mask of confidence crack. “I’m only working for the Empire because they needed the money – and the pay isn’t even that good. I’d leave if I could, but I can’t be the cause of their deaths.” The pilot’s voice dipped lower, barely above a whisper now, “Maybe they’ll die anyway because I’m doing thing, but I couldn’t leave you to be tortured and killed. Not after I was the one that brought you there.”

Cassian nodded. He understood. “What did you need me to do?” he asked, remembering that the pilot had said he needed him to do something.

The Pilot bit his lip and looked at Cassian. “They’ll figure out how you got away from the Star Destroyer. I know they will. So… I need you to make it look like you snuck onto the shuttle and highjacked it from me. Rough me up, crash us into the surface – make it look convincing.”

Cassian swallowed. The pilot wanted Cassian to beat him up. He nodded his head reluctantly. He understood the necessity behind it, but that would make it any easier to rough up the man that was brave enough to break him out of Imperial custody.

“Oh, and take my droid. We’re not supposed to turn them off…so it’ll probably turn me in.” the pilot added as an afterthought.

Cassian nodded again and the pair lapsed into silence before Cassian had a thought. “What’s your name?” he realized he didn’t even know this pilot’s name.

“Bodhi Rook. Yours?”

“Cassian Andor.”

Bodhi smiled faintly. “Good to meet you, Cassian.”


	2. I'm the Pilot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassian and Bodhi reunite on Jedha a few years later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the typos that are probably in here even though I edited this twice.

_It had been several years since Cassian had met that pilot – Bodhi Rook. Cassian still found himself thinking about Bodhi, the bravest man he’d ever met. He found himself wondering and hoping that Bodhi was still alive. Had he been convincing enough when he’d made it look like he’d stolen Bodhi’s shuttle? He really hoped so. He’d never forgive himself if Bodhi had died to save him._

_When the informant told him that it was an Imperial shuttle pilot that was running around telling people about this so-called planet killer that the Empire was building, he couldn’t help but wonder… was it his pilot? Had Bodhi Rook defected? But that was impossible, Bodhi had told him he couldn’t defect – his family would be killed if he did._

_But a part of Cassian still held onto the hope that the pilot would be Bodhi._

_Cassian closed his eyes when he started to reassure his informant that it would be okay before squeezing the trigger of his blaster pistol. It was a mercy to kill the man – he was saving him from certain torture and death, but he still felt horrible._

_He turned away and started climbing up the side of the building. He had information to get to the Rebellion._

**

Cassian was getting restless. They’d been in this cell for how long now? An hour? Two hours? It was too long. Cassian had things to be doing, he didn’t have time to be locked in a cell – but he had yet to be presented with a good opportunity to break out.

“Who’s the one in the next cell?” Chirrut’s voice broke into his thoughts and he tore his eyes away from the guards to glance at the other man.

Cassian shrugged and turned back to watching the guards. Maybe they would turn away and he could grab the opportunity to get out of this kriffing cell.

“It’s an Imperial Pilot!” Baze ground out angrily. “I’ll kill him!”

_Pilot!_

“Wait! No.” Cassian shouldered himself between Baze and the window so that he could see into the other cell. “ _Back off_.”

Cassian looked into the cell, trying to see into the shadows. He couldn’t really see the man in the other cell that well. The man stared hollowly between his legs, huddled in the corner of his cell. It was obvious that the pilot had been tortured to the breaking point. He smelled of stale sweat and his uniform was so dirty you could hardly even see the Imperial insignia.

Cassian swallowed in disgust. He had done some terrible things in the name of the Rebellion – something things that even his _superiors_ didn’t know about. But torturing someone was going too far. No one deserved that kind of brutal treatment. No one.

“Hey,” Cassian called out softly, but with urgency – he didn’t want to scare the man, but he really needed information. “Are you the pilot?” The man shifted and let out a little whimper, but didn’t look up. “Hey, are you the Imperial Pilot? The cargo pilot?”

After a few tense minutes, the man looked up at Cassian. His eyes were wide and wet with tears, his face caked with dirt and sweat. Cassian gasped, because – underneath the layers of dirt and grime – he recognized this man. It was Bodhi Rook. It was _his_ Pilot.

_“Bodhi Rook!_ You’re alive!”

Bodhi blinked at him then whimpered in pain. He clutched his head in his hands and groaned as he looked at Cassian with dull eyes – dull eyes that struggled with recognition. “P-pilot?” he whispered. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.” He muttered repeatedly.

Cassian felt anger run through him. Anger at the Empire and anger at Saw Gerrera. He wanted to go to Gerrera and tear into him for what he’d done to Bodhi. He tortured Bodhi – the bravest, strongest man that Cassian had ever met – and turned him into this trembling, splintered man.

“Bodhi. Hey. It’s okay now.” He wanted to reach through the bars and help him, reassure him, but he couldn’t. He searched through his mind for something to say, something that could trigger Bodhi’s memory. “This is a breakout, Bodhi. It’s a break out.”

“Breakout.” Bodhi muttered. “This is a breakout. Breakout…” he trailed off and looked up at Cassian his eyes widening as realization dawned on him. “ _C-Cassian Andor!”_ He shook his head. It couldn’t be, but it was... Cassian Andor was looking at him through the bars of his cell, but it couldn’t be… He clutched at his head again and looked down.

Cassian closed his eyes for a moment. He really wanted to comfort Bodhi. It was obvious that he had been dragged through hell and back. He was still trembling and clutching his head, rocking back and forth as soft gasps fell past his lips. He didn’t want to start questioning Bodhi, but he had a mission to complete. Lives depended on this mission.

“Does the name Erso mean anything to you, Bodhi? Galen Erso? Are you the pilot that defected?”

Bodhi flinched at the name of Galen Erso’s name, but nodded. “I’m the pilot.” He whispered. “I’m the pilot.” He still sounded confused, like he wasn’t sure of his own identity, and the somewhat glazed look remained in his eyes.

Cassian nodded. “Can you tell me the message? Please, Bodhi, I need to know what the message was.”

Bodhi shook his head and closed his eyes. He started mumbling incoherently. Cassian didn’t understand most of them, but he caught the words “planet killer” a few times.

Cassian’s anger came back, even greater than before. _How dare they do what they did to this man._ He had no idea what kind of torture the rebel extremists had inflicted on Bodhi, but the damage was obvious. He wanted to tear them apart for what they had done.

Then Bodhi looked up at Cassian with clearer eyes. “I brought the message… f-from Eadu. I brought it. I’m the pilot. _I’m the pilot._ ”

A rumble shook the ground and the walls before Cassian could reply.

Cassian jerked to his feet when the ground shook again and moved over to the cell door. People started shouting as the shaking intensified. _Not good_ , but this was also their opportunity to get out. Cassian pulled his security kit out of his boot, quickly working on the locking mechanism outside of the door. After only a moment, the lock shorted out and the door slid open.

Cassian ran over to the table and started rifling through their confiscated weapons, looking for his blaster and commlink.

 “Kay-Tu! Come in Kay-Tu!” Cassian said urgently into his commlink once he had located it.

“There you are, Cassian. We have a problem on the horizon.” K-2SO paused for a moment.

“ _What problem?”_ Cassian hissed.

“There _is_ no horizon.”

Cassian swallowed and glanced up at the ceiling, rumbles still shaking everything. What the _kriff_ was happening on the surface? Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Not good at all.

Then his eyes widened in realization. The planet killer. It was real and it was here. That had to be it, there wasn’t any other explanation, the shaking was too great to be an Imperial bombing run.

“Yes, _yes!”_ Cassian snapped in slightly irritated panic. “Just lock onto our location and come get us!”

“Five minutes until extraction.” The droid replied. “If I even make.”

Cassian stuffed the commlink into his pocket without replying. Damn kriffing, pessimistic droid. He glanced over at Bodhi’s cell, still closed, where his pilot still sat huddled in the corner. He wanted desperately to run to Bodhi, grab him, and escape from here – but he needed to find Jyn. Everything was coming down around them and if he didn’t get Jyn now she probably wouldn’t survive.

He met Baze’s eyes, “Get the pilot, we need him. I’ll find Jyn.”

He didn’t wait for a reply before he started running through the base. He trusted – hoped – that Baze and Chirrut would release the pilot and get outside to meet the ship. He ran through the base, dodging falling debris. He grabbed someone, demanding the location of Jyn so that they could get the _kriff_ off the planet before they all died.

He finally found Jyn, on her knees while Saw Gerrera stood back from her – looking at her with deep sadness. Cassian lifted his blaster, giving the man a hard glare. Oh, he _so_ wanted to kill him for what he had done to Bodhi. But he lowered his blaster, he didn’t have time for that.

He grabbed Jyn’s hand, “We need to get out of here, _now_.”

Jyn looked dully up at him, like she wasn’t even aware of everything crumbling down around them and the rumbling in the air. Cassian grabbed her arm – gently but firmly – not having the patience to talk her into leaving. They would get trapped in here if they didn’t get out now.

He pulled Jyn with him back through the catacombs, letting out a sigh of relief when they came out into sunlight. The relief was short-lived, however, when he saw the chaos. The valley was gone, in its place was a billowing, whirling, storm of debris rushing toward them. Cassian looked up at the sky to see a dark object in front of the sun, like a solar eclipse – the planet killer.

Cassian clenched his fists and looked away, looking frantically for his U-Wing – he didn’t have time to dwell on the horror the Empire had just inflicted on this planet. Cassian’s heart lurched when he saw Bodhi, staring up at the sky with the air of a man who had just lost everything. He gave Jyn a gentle push in the direction of the U-Wing then grabbed Bodhi’s hand.

_“Move_ , Bodhi. We have to get out of here.”

He didn’t wait for Bodhi to reply. He just pulled the unresisting man after him, trying not to fall as the ground shook and cracked under their feet. When they reached the platform of the ship, Cassian dragged himself and Bodhi up into the ship.

Cassian immediately scrambled into the cockpit, he was dimly aware of Bodhi following him – the pilot stayed out of the way though. “Come on, come, on. Don’t fail me now.” Cassian muttered as he tried to avoid debris and move the ship away from the center of the storm.

Cassian ran his hand through his hair in relief when they managed to clear the storm and make the jump to lightspeed. They’d made it.

But Jedha City was destroyed.

**

Cassian stared broodily out into space, everything streaking past so fast. Technically, he didn’t even need to sit in the cockpit – they were still a few hours from Eadu – but he had no desire to sit with everyone else. He’d seen the Empire do some horrible things over the year, but what they had just done to Jedha City and the surrounded area… He’d honestly had delusions that the Empire couldn’t get any worse. How _wrong_ he’d been.

“You’re showing indications of stress.” K-2SO announced from where the droid sat beside Cassian in the co-pilot seat. “You should be careful. You’re a much worse pilot when you’re stressed.”

Cassian turned in his seat and looked over at the droid with mild amusment and opened his mouth to reply.  He stopped when he saw Bodhi enter the cockpit. “Uh, why don’t you go... um, check to see if there are any transmissions from the Alliance.”

K-2SO looked at Bodhi then turned back to Cassian before standing up. “If you wanted me to leave, you could’ve just said that.”

Bodhi took the seat that K-2SO vacated and watched the droid leave. “Was that my droid?” His voice was stronger than it was before – closer to the confident pilot that Cassian had met years ago.

Cassian let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah.

Bodhi nodded and licked his dry lips. He stared out the window for a moment before looking back at Cassian. “You’re the reason I defected.”

Cassian frowned. “I thought Galen Erso convinced you to defect.”

Bodhi shook his head and looked away. “No. I mean, he asked me to take the message to Jedha – but I was going to refuse.” He looked back at Cassian again, “But then I thought of you. The way that you looked at me. You didn’t look at with disgust – I was your enemy, yet you trusted me.

You said that the Rebel Alliance would welcome me, despite the terrible things that I’ve done. So, I decided I was done with the Empire, I wouldn’t be an accessory to any more atrocities. I would fight for what’s right – or die.” Bodhi’s voice broke and closed his eyes. “But I was too late. Jedha City is gone because of me.”

“That’s not your fault, Bodhi! That was completely out of your control.”

Bodhi didn’t look convinced, he felt like it was his fault. He’d been on Jedha. His family had been on Jedha. It felt like the Empire had chosen Jedha to punish him. And now, because of him, people had died. He felt miserable. But now he wanted to make sure that no one else would die because of this super weapon.

“Would the Rebellion still welcome me?” Bodhi asked softly.

Cassian reached out and took Bodhi’s hand. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re already a member.”

**Author's Note:**

> That's how Cassian gets K-2!


End file.
